The 1948 Czechoslovak presidential election took place on 14 June 1948.

Klement Gottwald Klement Gottwald (; 23 November 1896 – 14 March 1953) was a Czech communist politician, who was the leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1929 until his death in 1953–titled as general secretary until 1945 and as chairman fro ...

was elected the first Communist president of Czechoslovakia.

Background

The

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Comint ...

finished first in the 1946 parliamentary election and formed a new government with party leader

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. The party used its influence to take over the country in a 1948 coup d'etat. The incumbent president

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 194 ...

was unable to resist and resigned on 7 June 1948. In accordance with the 1920 Constitution, Gottwald took over most presidential duties pending the election of a permanent successor. When negotiations began, two candidates were proposed–Gottwald and Culture Minister

Zdeněk Nejedlý Zdeněk Nejedlý (10 February 1878 – 9 March 1962) was a Czech musicologist, historian, music critic, author, and politician whose ideas dominated the cultural life of what is now the Czech Republic for most of the twentieth century. Although ...

. It was eventually decided that Gottwald would be nominated in order to legitimate the Communist regime.

References

{{Czechoslovak presidential elections Presidential 1948 Single-candidate elections Elections in Communist Czechoslovakia